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On the harvest trail By Kay Kevlihan Concluding our series on work placement abroad, I hear from students from Pallaskenry Agricultural College, Co Limerick. Operating giant combines and farm machinery on the US harvest trail is the stuff of dreams for many young farmers. Almost half of all the students on the Advanced Certificate in Agricultural Mechanisation at Pallaskenry College choose the United States harvest trail for their work placement, a feature of the course that attracts students to the college each year. Students from around the globe work in crews for established US contractors who train them in the operation and maintenance of giant combines and trucks used to transport crops from fields as big as 700 acres to grain stations. They work as long as daylight allows and form friendships among the crews that endure as they follow the wheat harvest from Texas to North Carolina. During his time as principal of Pallaskenry Agricultural College, John McCarthy has seen the value of work placement in facilitating the training of machinery students. He is of the opinion that working in a structured machinery placement is invaluable as part of the learning process. "I see placement as a real eye-opener and it is an introduction to the world of work for our students," said John McCarthy. "During placement, they are on a steep technical learning curve and with support and advice from college and host personnel have to cope with the various problems that crop up. As principal I find it gratifying to see the extra maturity and ability to communicate which students show after finishing the placement period. "They all seem to have found an extra level of confidence, which comes from having to stand on their own two feet as adults in a working environment." The feedback Pallaskenry College get during placement from employers is generally very positive and this is attributed to the practical hands-on nature of their training in Pallaskenry. "Safety is a very important consideration when delivering a farm machinery course. The students receive training from the college in health and safety and all placement hosts are vetted to see that their standards come up to Teagasc requirements," John explained. It is not unusual for students to be offered employment in businesses in which they have done their work placement. Students who successfully complete the two-year Advanced Certificate in Agricultural Mechanisation at Pallaskenry College have the option to pursue further studies and a number of Pallaskenry students progressed to a Degree in Agricultural Mechanisation at the Institute of Technology Tralee or at Harper Adams College in the U.K. or Reaseheath College in the UK.   The whole US experience has whetted my appetite Kevin Broe, Templemary, Buttevant, Co Cork. Course: Higher Certificate in Technology in Agricultural Mechanisation College: Pallaskenry College and Limerick IT Placement: US harvest trail Duration: Nine months Future: Travel, further study The lifestyle, the weather, the openness of the countryside and vast landscapes of America really impressed me when I was on work placement with the Ohio combine crew trail. The first two days were spent on orientation and then I flew to Wichita in Kansas to work on the harvest trail with contractor Taff Hughes. The next couple of days were spent learning how to service and operate 400 HP combines with 36 ft headers, trucks and tractors. The big moment finally arrived when, fully-trained and rarin' to go, we set out from Texas where the first wheat crops were ready for harvesting. We worked our way up north through Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado and North and South Dakota. The average field was around 100 acres and I very quickly got used to operating these huge machines over very large areas. It's a big responsibility but you adapt very easily. The main crop is wheat and we harvested canola in North Dakota. You get to see a lot of America as you pass through the different states until you finish the trail in August. I returned to Kansas to harvest corn maize, soya beans and sunflowers in South Dakota. When the weather was good we worked very long days. The impact of what I was doing in the US really hit me when I returned to Ireland and I felt that I came back to a matchbox compared to the vast roads where you could see for miles and enormous fields compared to the average field in Ireland. The whole experience has whetted my appetite for travel and next month I'm going back to the US to work with Taff Hughes again before I start my degree course in agricultural mechanisation in Tralee IT. Work placement in the US was one of the attractions of the agricultural mechanisation course in Pallaskenry and I'm very happy to have chosen it - because of that and the fact that the lecturers are really great. I'm looking forward to the future because I know there are plenty of good work opportunities for graduates.   Vastness was incredible Kane O'Connor, Sligo Course: FETAC Advanced Certificate in Agricultural Mechanisation College: Pallaskenry College Placement: US harvest trail Duration: Eight months Future: Construction studies an option At first it was overwhelming, the vastness of everything and being in charge of half a million dollars worth of equipment, but you quickly get used to working on the harvest trail and I loved the whole experience. In fact, knowing I would go to the United States on work placement was a big attraction in studying at Pallaskenry and I'm happy I made that choice. I had never been to the US before and I travelled on my own to Newark, on to Ohio for two days' orientation at Columbus University before heading to Chicago and on to Denver in Colorado, and finally to Colby in Kansas to work for contractor, Jim Diebert. There were 11 of us in the crew from as far away as Zimbabwe and Australia and we spent the first week familiarising ourselves with the machinery. There were four brand new John Deere combines, six huge trucks and two tractors and grain carts. I chose to drive trucks so I got my licence and set off in a very long convoy driving a grain truck hauling a combine and two 36 ft headers behind it. We hauled all the equipment, brought mobile homes with us and Jim's wife, Diane, came along to cook our food. On the road you meet a lot of oversized loads but you get used to it and we had two-way radios, so you would be warned if there was something big heading towards you. All the machines were air conditioned but the heat was intense and it took a while to adjust and to remember to keep drinking water. The crew harvested wheat for four to five months starting in Texas, then on to Oklahoma, Kansas, South Dakota and finally North Dakota before heading back to Colby to service the machines and switch to corn headers. Then away again to North Dakota to harvest corn and other crops. The biggest grain field I saw was 700 acres. We worked very long days; trailers would be filled and we would be on the road at 7am taking corn to feed lots - big farms rearing cattle - and then return to the field for a further load. We ate whenever we could; the main thing was to keep everything moving. They were hectic days but each person was a vital cog in the wheel. It wasn't all work though. Jim gave us a car so when the forecast was bad we would head off to places like Amarillo in Texas or Mount Rushmore to see the sights. At night we would sit around the caravans with a beer or two and talk and it was incredible to hear the two lads from Zimbabwe talking about the turmoil in their country. I made friends for life during that time. When the harvest finished in November, Jim brought the whole crew to the John Deere factory in Illinois and it was really fantastic to see robots cutting parts for machines and spraying them. It was a great way to end the work placement, seeing how machines were made that we had become so familiar with over the months. The harvest trail was hard work but it was a great experience to work for someone as well respected as Jim Diebert. I was 20 last year and I grew up a lot being away from home and making decisions on my own. You need that space in order to become more independent. It's good to see a different way of life and I might not get that opportunity again.